A Lady Holding a Fan 1725 - 1784

Michel Barthélémy Ollivier created this drawing titled 'A Lady Holding a Fan' using chalk on paper in France in the 18th century. Ollivier was a painter attached to the court of Louis XV, the image is fascinating because it depicts the leisure of the French aristocracy. We can see the sitter is more interested in presenting herself in a fashionable pose than in doing anything productive. The woman's dress and the fan in her hand mark her as a member of the elite. Fashionable dress, like art, was regulated by institutions of the French court, and sumptuary laws dictated who was allowed to wear which materials. This image subtly reinforces the power of the aristocracy through its use of visual codes. To truly understand this image, we might research fashion and court life in 18th-century France, using sources such as fashion plates, etiquette manuals, and memoirs to understand the social context in which it was made. The meaning of art is always contingent on social and institutional context.